during the most important shopping season of the year

The S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary sector tracks companies that benefit from spending on retail, restaurants and vacations

The sector is down 32% for the year to date, more than double the 15.5% decline in the broader S&P 500 

Consumers have been bruised by surging inflation and the swiftest increase in interest rates since the 1970s

Source: Adobe Analytics data

Still, they spent a record $5.29  billion online on Thanksgiving Day, up 2.9% from a year ago

Spending was driven by big discounts in categories such as toys and electronics

The National Retail Federation has predicted holiday sales will rise up to 8%, or as much as $960.4 billion, during November and December

That's still less than jumps reported in 2021 and 2020